SC Feds Score Pair Of Guilty Pleas In Mortgage Fraud Scam Involving Phony Home Sales That Failed To Deliver Title To Unwitting Homebuyers

In Florence, South Carolina, The Sun News reports:

• A former mortgage broker and the owner of a defunct manufactured housing dealership in Conway pleaded guilty to felony mortgage fraud charges [] in federal court in Florence. Michael Fortenberry, the mortgage broker, and Glenn Vaught, former owner of G&E Home Sales, pleaded guilty to one charge each of conspiracy to commit loan application fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release.(1)

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• Fortenberry and Vaught said in plea agreements that they falsified information on loan applications to influence mortgage lenders to make loans that otherwise would not have been approved. The falsified information included appraisals that overvalued the property where the homes were to be located, doctored bank statements that made it appear as if buyers had more money and documents showing down payments that did not exist.

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• The two men obtained mortgages in the buyers’ names and had more than $2 million in loan proceeds sent to G&E Home Sales. Fortenberry and Vaught then split the loan proceeds but never provided any homes to their customers.

For the story, see Former home dealer, mortgage broker plead guilty.

(1) Cynthia Fortenberry -- Michael Fortenberry’s wife -- was indicted [] on seven felony charges of conspiracy to commit loan application fraud, according to the story. Reportedly, she was a mortgage broker who worked with her husband.